Don't Forget About Me
by oncelery
Summary: Karkat falls asleep one night and meets a boy he feels he should know. All he needs to do is remember. ((Eventual DaveKat, T just in case))
1. A Strange Encounter

**Reunion**

**Chapter One: A Strange Encounter**

He had faced countless enemies alongside his teammates, had faced the equivalent of the Chimera in their Sessions and had helped conquered it, had worked to bring their struggling three Sessions together to the final screen of the Game to break into the real world again; to go back to a (mostly) normal life. But when the rift opened to send them all back home, the Game played another cruel joke on them. It sent him back in, and, as if he'd never existed, never been a part of their lives, they forgot all about him. The Game patched up the holes in their memories with fabricated stories and lies. They lived normal lives together, coping with being Game survivors as best as they could. Never once did they realize what they were missing.

Not until a whole month after the Game ended did Karkat have his first strange dream.

…

He called them dreams because, strange as the Game had been, it couldn't possibly have control over him now, nor could these be his memories. He'd co-led his group to victory with Egbert. He'd always lived on Earth. He'd never even heard of "Alternia." He'd never been gray-skinned or horned. And he'd certainly never met a boy named Dave.

It was a month after they won. He found himself on a meteor, ash colored skin and small, nubby candy corn horns protruding just above his ears. He was in a spacious room, a library of sorts, and he was alone. Save for the boy in the cape. He'd laughed; the boy was wearing sunglasses indoors and a cape, of all things. It all looked rather silly to Karkat. The boy frowned and crossed his arms when he laughed at him, quirked an eyebrow above obscuring black shades. "What?"

Karkat shook his head and smirked, then moved to sit in one of the beanbags. There was a book on the end table beside him. He picked it up and skimmed the first few pages before setting it down, perplexed. What was a "quadrant?"he hadn't the faintest.

The robed stranger watched as Karkat made his way around the library, and Karkat couldn't help but wonder why the boy was there. After he'd made a full loop around the room, he ambled back to the sitting area and plopped down again. The boy shuffled over and took a seat across from Karkat's beanbag.

"Alright, Karkat, now that-"

"How do you know my name?" He blurted out.

The boy's stoic face faltered momentarily, quickly replaced with another. "What do you mean?"

"I've never seen you before in my life. How do you know my name? This is just a dream, right? So you're a figment of my imagination, not real."

"No way, dude, I'm just as real as you are," he reached out an arm to Karkat. The latter hesitantly pressed a finger to it. Warm and definitely tangible. "See?"

Karkat nodded slowly, but furrowed his eyebrows at the boy. " But that doesn't answer my other question," he pointed out. "How do you know me? And who are you?"

"You really don't remember?" Karkat shook his head. The boy let out a low slur which Karkat assumed to be mostly profanities.

"What?"

"I'm just wondering," the boy said, slight Texas drawl that Karkat had missed now becoming a bit more prominent. "I'd known the Game would make you forget a lot about what really happened, but a whole person is just ridiculous." He frowned again.

"What's going on?"

He let out a sigh and put his head in his hands. "Alright, get comfortable. This is going to take a while."

Karkat listened intently as he told him everything. He told him about the Game he'd played and the tricks it'd played on them all, about the trolls he'd played with (most of whom Karkat saw every day, including himself, but were all humans as far as he knew), about his friends and family (whom Karkat found he knew as well). It sounded a lot like the Session Karkat had played with his own friends. The only thing missing was the boy- Dave Strider.

Dave told him how the three Sessions of players from different universes had banded together to beat the bosses of the Game, how they had all won the Game together, how it had pulled him back alone to stay forever while everyone went back to a reset Earth. Karkat's head swam as he recounted so many events that he said Karkat had been present for, but Karkat couldn't recall doing some of those things at all.

Finally, when Dave finished, Karkat leaned back. The tale weighed heavily on his mind, etching itself into his memory. Karkat ran his tongue over his protruding, dulled fangs and fiddled with the end of Dave's robes, unsure of what to say. Dave stood after a bit, going back to the counter and stacking up some journals. When he was finished he brought the pile back. "These are some things from the Session," he explained.

They reminisced over old journals for a while. One was full of wizard stories, penned in Rose's neat, concise handwriting and Roxy's lighter scribblings here and there. Another of Rose's was full of the word "MEOW" written as if a code (Dave admitted that he never understood that one). Yet another was full of raps that Dave and Dirk had put together- Dave liked those; he added new ones occasionally, he said- during their free time. Dave recalled relationships to Karkat at that time as well. Karkat choked up when he told him about Terezi. He wasn't sure why.

Dave had just started talking about Karkat again when everything went fuzzy and Karkat was awake. He blinked in shock, startled by the sudden change of place, then squeezed his eyes shut and pleaded with his brain to let him go back to keep Dave company; but despite how much he wanted to, he couldn't will himself back to sleep again.

He lay in the dark, alone in his thoughts.

** Next Chapter Choices:**

_**Karkat: Consult With Friends**_

**_Karkat: Take A Nap _((This would take place in the next week or so))**

** If neither is picked or there is a tie, then I will pick.**


	2. Consultation

**Don't Forget About Me**

**Chapter Two: Consultation**

Karkat's best friend John was a beanpole of a boy; tall, thin, and lanky with messy black hair and protruding front teeth. Karkat wasn't sure how they were such good friends. He'd mostly chalked it up to the fact that SBURB had been a rough time for them all and John had been there for him, but now he was starting to second guess John's motives. Though John would deny it, Karkat felt John's feelings for him were a little more than platonic. Not that Karkat minded; he just didn't want to hurt John's feelings by telling him he didn't feel the same way. So he kept his knowledge secret, the only other person with knowledge of it being Rose, whom they each confided in in such manners.

As Rose crossed his mind, Karkat booted up his desktop PC and logged into Pesterchum. Rose's handle appeared with a yellow emoticon beside it. He clicked it, eager to tell her of the . The messaging application appeared. Rose had contacted him already.

**- tentacleTherapist [TT] began pestering carcinoGeneticist [CG] at 07:24 –**

TT: Karkat, I need to speak with you.

TT: Karkat?

TT: Are you asleep? I'm afraid it is rather important I relay this message, given the current time.

**- tentacleTherapist [TT] is now an idle chum! - **

CG: ROSE? I'M HERE NOW.

TT: Oh, good, there you are.

TT: I have some news from John.

CG: URGH, CAN IT WAIT? I HAVE SOME THINGS I NEED TO TALK ABOUT FIRST. THEY'RE A PRETTY BIG DEAL.

TT: I don't see why not.

TT: Go on, then. What do you need to say?

CG: LAST NIGHT I MET THIS KID NAMED DAVE. HE SAYS HE PLAYED SBURB WITH US.

TT: The name does not sound familiar. You're sure it was "Dave?"

CG: POSITIVE. HE SAID HE WAS A MEMBER OF YOUR SESSION.

CG: HE KINDA LOOKED LIKE DIRK- HE SAID DIRK AND HE WERE SORT OF BROTHERS BUT NOT? KIND OF LIKE HOW ROXY'S YOUR TEEN MOM BUT NOT ACTUALLY.

TT: I have no recollection of a fourth member of our party. But who knows? The Game has played many tricks on us before.

TT: Who's to say it didn't wipe our memories of him?

CG: THAT'S WHAT I THOUGHT.

CG: THOUGH IF HE IS JUST PLAYING TRICKS ON ME HE'S DOING A PRETTY GOOD JOB OF IT.

CG: HIS STORY MATCHES OURS NEARLY WORD FOR WORD.

TT: This is very interesting. Where did you say you encountered him?

CG: A DREAM.

TT: …

CG: YEAH, I KNOW, DREAM BUBBLES HAVEN'T BEEN AROUND SINCE THE GAME.

CG: BUT I SWEAR I WAS IN ONE. IT KINDA LOOKED LIKE THE LIBRARY ON THE METEOR, STRANGE AS THAT SOUNDS.

CG: AND THERE WAS A GOD TIER THERE- DAVE- WHO APPARENTLY HELPED US WIN THE GAME BUT WE DON'T REMEMBER HIM.

TT: Are you sure he was there? He wasn't just some strange mind trick?

CG: POSITIVE.

CG: HE WAS AS REAL AS I AM.

CG: AND HIS STORY LINES UP WITH EVERYTHING THAT'S HAPPENED TO US, SAVEFOR THE MONTH AFTER THE GAME.

CG: IF YOU'VE NEVER BELIEVED ME ABOUT ANYTHING, ROSE, BELIEVE ME WHEN I SAY WE ARE MISSING SOMEONE.

TT: How did he prove it to you?

CG: HE KNOWS THINGS.

CG: HE KNOWS OUR NAMES AND OUR FAVORITE THINGS.

CG: HE HAS YOUR NOTEBOOKS FOR JESUS' SAKE.

TT: The genetic one or the wizard one?

CG: ALL OF THEM.

TT: …

TT: I thought those were lost.

TT: You're telling me someone in a dream bubble has copies of my notebooks and journals?

CG: YES, THAT IS EXACTLY WHAT I HAVE BEEN SAYING.

TT: This is rather unfortunate.

CG: WHATEVER.

CG: JUST...

CG: LET'S KEEP THIS BETWEEN YOU AND ME FOR NOW, OKAY? AT LEAST UNTIL I CAN PROVE DAVE'S PRESENCE IN OUR SESSION.

TT: Alright.

TT: Before you go, I'll give you the message.

TT: John's looking forward to meeting you today.

CG: OH MAN, THAT'S TODAY. I FORGOT.

TT: I trust you have a gift for him?

CG: GIFT?

TT: Check your calendar.

TT: Goodbye, Karkat.

Karkat said his goodbyes and stood, walking to the closet and snagging a black sweater. It was still chilly, even for mid- April.

April. He froze, craned his head to read the small desk calender on his dresser. April thirteenth.

The date was John's birthday. And Karkat had all but remembered to buy a present._ What kind of horrible best friend am I? _He scoffed in his head, rushing to get ready. He was already running behind; he'd made plans to meet John in less than an hour.

It was time to go gift shopping.

…

Fifty-seven minutes and an insane amount of running later, Karkat arrived at the small cafe on the square. John was seated over towards a window, pouring over a menu and swirling the ice cubes in his drink with the straw. He didn't notice Karkat until he sat down across from him.

"Oh, hey!"

"Hey, John," Karkat wheezed.

"You okay, dude? You look like you just ran a marathon," John laughed as Karkat took a swig of the soda in front of him.

"Shut up," he managed between pained breaths. "I was running late, okay?"

"I know," John grinned teasingly. Karkat frowned and placed the gift on the table.

"Hey, I can just take this back if you want," he joked back.

"Karkat! You didn't have to get me a present!"

"Oh, you really don't want it? I was kidding, but I'll take it back if you want."

John took the blue box and shook it. "What is it?"

"Open it and find out, birthday boy."

John ripped it open and squeaked- literally squeaked. "The Nicolas Cage box set! How did you guess that was what I wanted?"

"Egbert, admit it. If there had been anything even remotely entertaining in the store, you would still have gotten this." Karkat rolled his eyes but smiled anyway.

The waitress flipped open her paper pad and asked them what they wanted. After they finished, John went back to reading the list of movies in the set. Karkat grinned to himself. He'd made the right choice.

…

"Thanks for the movies," John said, finishing off his caramel java-lanche and unlocking the door to his house. He smiled at Karkat and threw his arms around him.

"Happy birthday," Karkat whispered into his hair. John squeezed and pulled back, hands on Karkat's shoulders.

John closed his eyes. He took a deep breath.

And he leaned in.

Karkat could feel his breath on his lips and had time only to think _oh_ before they connected. The kiss was chaste and John tasted like coffee and caramel. When he pulled away, blushing brighter red than Karkat had ever seen him before (though John was easily flustered).

"Karkat...?" John muttered after a few minutes of awestruck silence from his best friend. "Um..."

Karkat blinked and came back to earth from his thoughts.

"John, I... We need to talk."

** Next chapter choices:**

**Karkat: Talk to John**

**Karkat: Talk to Rose ((Would be set a day or so later))**


End file.
